Faculty Bibliography

Medical researchers in New York City have found a strong correlation between low amounts of testosterone, the male sex hormone, and the degree of coronary artery disease, which underlies most heart attacks. The researchers, however, said they did not know precisely how low levels of testosterone might lead to a heart attack or normal amounts might protect against one

Not so long ago, Government officials and medical leaders all but pronounced the end of infectious diseases as a major public health problem. These striking examples of new and emerging diseases prove that prediction wrong. They join a list that includes, among others, AIDS, legionnaire's disease, Lyme disease, Lassa fever and bleeding and fever from the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Some were unknown or minor hazards only a decade or two ago. Others increased significantly in incidence over the last 20 years. Still others threaten to become bigger hazards in the near future. The sudden, unexpected appearance of AIDS shocked health officials into a belated recognition of the need for improved surveillance and an awareness that such vigilance might serve as an early warning system to prevent new and emerging infections from becoming public health disasters. But the report said, 'The ability to detect what is new or emerging depends on the capacity to identify and track the routine as well as the unusual.' Surveillance also relies on an effective laboratory system. Microbiologists can be the first to detect genetic changes in organisms that could signal an impending outbreak of antibiotic-resistant infections. Microbiologists can also be the first to detect known diseases that have spread to new geographic areas and populations. Laboratories can be vital for the early detection of exotic microbial agents that might be used for biological warfare or terrorist activities

Officials of the National Cancer Institute have threatened to cut off all financing for a breast cancer project coordinated at the University of Pittsburgh unless the university takes further steps to revamp the flawed project's leadership. Specifically, institute officials said they objected to retaining the project's two top scientists, Bernard Fisher and Carol Redmond, in leadership roles

Acting under orders from the cancer institute, Pitt officials last month removed [Bernard Fisher] as administrative head of the studies. Fisher, a surgeon who is 75, had earned many tributes for his leadership of the studies for nearly 30 years. [Carol Redmond] is the project's chief statistician. In a letter dated Monday, Lyn Bacon, an official of the National Cancer Institute, wrote to Michael M. Crouch of Pitt saying that it was inappropriate to respond to the university's plan because of the inquiry about possible scientific misconduct by Fisher and Redmond. Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the interim chairman of the breast cancer project, said he was 'surprised and disappointed' by the cancer institute's letter because 'we felt our plan was such that we would not be depending on Dr. Fisher for leadership of the group.' He added that it was important to maintain Fisher's 'expertise and scientific contributions.'

The author of the report, Dr. Joel D. Cooper, a leading chest surgeon at Washington University in St. Louis, said the surgery markedly relieved shortness of breath for those with severe emphysema, allowing most to walk and climb stairs without using oxygen supplements. Cooper said he had applied new techniques to a procedure that was performed on about 30 patients in the 1950s by Dr. Otto C. Brantigan, a surgeon at the University of Maryland and Baltimore City Hospital

Federal health officials said on Apr 29, 1994 that they had ordered the University of Pittsburgh to determine whether a formal inquiry should be made into possible misconduct by Bernard Fisher and Carol Redmond, two scientists who had led the flawed breast cancer studies that changed the way the disease is treated

Joel D. Cooper, a leading chest surgeon at Washington University, reported that a new operation eases the effects of emphysema by removing 20% to 30% of the damaged lung tissue. While the operation is not a cure, Cooper said the surgery markedly relieved shortness of breath for those with severe emphysema, allowing most to walk and climb stairs without using oxygen supplements

[Joel Cooper] said he first learned about [Otto Brantigan]'s ideas from Dr. Jean Deslauriers of Quebec and became more interested in the technique after his experience as a pioneer in lung transplant surgery. Members of the thoracic surgery group were generally enthusiastic about Cooper's report, saying Brantigan had been vindicated. Dr. Harold Urschel, a chest surgeon in Dallas, told the meeting of his initial skepticism about the operation when he first saw it performed in St. Louis. But Urschel said he changed his mind after doing two procedures in Dallas. 'The operation is very easy to perform' but requires a team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, nurses and others, Cooper said. When hospitals develop such teams, Cooper said, he expects thousands of patients to undergo the lung operation each year

The idea is to 'impose an element of unpredictability and surprise in the auditing and oversight functions' that are intended to improve quality and verify accuracy of research data, Dr. Samuel Broder testified at the [John D. Dingell] hearing on April 13. Many critics and supporters believe that Dr. Broder's job as director of the National Cancer Institute has been jeopardized by the way his agency has handled the scandal. One further data error involving Dr. [Bernard Fisher] has come to light. In the late 1980's, officials of University of Pittsburgh solicited a gift from the ICI Pharmaceuticals Group, the British manufacturer of tamoxifen, a drug that Dr. Fisher's studies were beginning to find effective in treating breast cancer, for an endowed chair in his honor. ICI gave $600,000, and other gifts swelled the total to $1.2 million. But it was not enough to establish such a chair. In any case, said Dr. Thomas Detre, the university's senior vice chancellor for health sciences, Dr. Fisher had expressed a personal dislike for such recognition. Nevertheless, Mr. Dingell said at the time of his hearing, Dr. Fisher has listed himself as the ICI Professor of Surgery in 'American Men and Women of Science.' An even more specific listing in 'Who's Who in America' says he is Bernard Fisher, ICI-Pharma professor of surgery. University of Pittsburgh officials attribute the listings to a clerical error. It is just one of the many data errors that could have been detected without a Congressional hearing